From construction trucks, to service vans, to delivery vehicles, operators are constantly needing to store and access items in their vehicles. However, accessing stored items has typically required a user to climb into the vehicle. This is not only burdensome, but can be dangerous. For example, in a serviceman's van, any number of tools and ladders, may be found, which are a hazard to a user when climbing into the van to retrieve items. Further, the frequent climbing in-and-out of the van, as well as attempting to exit the van with heavy items, can wear on a user's joints and back, causing long-term health problems. Further, retrieving heavy items, such as those that require more than one person to transport, become extremely difficult and dangerous when both users attempt to maneuver inside of the vehicle.
Attempts in the prior art have been made to solve some of these problems, but they still fall short. For example, organizational shelving on the sidewall of a vehicle helps to keep items organized, but fails to alleviate the problem of a user needing to enter the vehicle for retrieval. Bed slides exist that allow a user to extract items sitting on the floor, but this requires a user to keep all items on the floor, as opposed to the organizational storage bins on the sidewalls. One attempt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,377 to Hughes, attempted to solve the problem by disclosing a storage carriage that was slidable on a frame mounted to the side of a vehicle and extendable from the vehicle. However, the carriage and channels disclosed have a configuration that only allows for a nominal amount of weight to be placed thereon without compromising the slidability, limiting the use of the carriage. Further, the carriage could only be locked when fully extended or fully inserted inside a vehicle, and failed to provide a means for the slide to be retracted when on a hill. The prior art also failed to provide for an electronic means for extending and retracting the shelving, as well as protective measures to prevent injury during the extending. Further, it may be beneficial in some industries, such as the package delivery industry, to allow the shelving to not only extend from the vehicle, but be removable such that workers may organize packages on a unit before insertion into the vehicle. The prior art does not contemplate such systems.
As such, despite the prior art's attempts, there still remains a need for a vehicle rail system that allows a user to extend shelving thereon without entry into a vehicle and that provides for the storage of extremely heavy items, that provides for multiple locking positions, that may be motorized for ease of extension and insertion, and that provides for multi-surface applications, including the ceiling for both storage and a canopy system. Further, there is a need for a system that is removable so as to present easy transfer of items stored on the shelving. The present disclosure seeks to solve these and other problems.